Okay, so this week has been pretty fantastic. Dawnna was baptized despite loads of persecution. That woman is a modern day pioneer. The baptism was absolutely beautiful and there were tons of people there to support her.

This week Bro. Mike Hemmingway, director of postalizing for the church visited with a few of us in the mission. It was such a neat experience to learn from him. He helped us to refine our street contacting and our member visits. A day to remember.

This past Sunday, Braydon passed the sacrament for the first time. And, oh my goodness, yall, Ali is in remission from her cancer. She has now beat cancer 3 times. She is currently on her last dose of chemotherapy and she shuffled into sacrament this Sunday to watch Braydon pass the sacrament. She is seriously my icon of strength and faith.

We also had a giant Pioneer Day parade through green valley where we got to hold a giant flag and walk in the parade. It’s every missionaries dream to walk down a street and have loads of people screaming you name and cheering you on. That’s right, it happened.

So everyone we have been teaching has been/about to be baptized (no complaints at all!!!) but we are now beginning to dwindle in our teaching pool. We spent most of the week knocking on doors and talking to everyone we possibly could. And nothing was happening. We tried everything in the book and it wasn’t until after the trial of faith that the lord poured out his blessings. We had knocked on what seemed like the bajillionth door yesterday and no one answered. (Surprise) I turned to sister Browning and said, “alright, that’s it…we need to find someone to teach. Let’s go find them!” And we walked the opposite direction right into a member of our ward who said, “Sisters! We have someone for you to teach!” Haha! They had been working with their neighbor who was on the second time reading through the Book of Mormon and wanted to get baptized. But that’s not all…out of the blue this new investigator walks down the stairs and we were able to have our first lesson right there. Then as we walked back to our car, we got a text referral from a former investigator who said she was ready to take he lessons and get baptized. Yall, if that doesn’t prove that is is God’s work, not ours, I don’t know what will. He could do this without two hooligans in skirts. But he allows is to take part in his plan so that we can Learn and receive joy.

God is fully in charge of our lives. He has it under control. Let him take he wheel!!! Do it! I promise that it is the only way to eternal happiness.

ALLI, BRAYDON, AND BRENNAN GOT BAPTIZED!! it was incredible. The room was so packed that we had to move to the chapel and most of the people there where non members. It was incredible. They all three got baptized and confirmed on the same night and then Braydon received the priesthood. It was absolutely beautiful.

Yall, there is nothing like the constant gift of the Holy Ghost. Yall must always strive to be worthy of that companionship. When we do everything else is much easier.

The church is true, the book is blue, and Moroni is still on the ball.

We have had the opportunity to teach many people this week to listen
to the still small voice of the Holy Ghost and the prompting the Lord
gives us. One of our investigators, Sharonda, who is incredible is
searching and hungering to understand how the Lord speaks to her. It
has been so exciting to point out to her when she feels the spirit and
when she is receiving promptings from God.

The blessings of the temple are beyond words. This week my mission
president allowed me to go to the sealing of a young family I our
ward. It was my first sealing I was able to see. It was the most
beautiful thing I have ever seen in my entire life. I cried. Boy, did
I cry. The spirit that is in the temple is so thick you could cut it
with a knife.

After the temple, we were waiting in the lobby with our wars, the
doors of the temple opened, and in walked out investigator, Alli. Bald
headed and beautiful she walked into the temple, knowing that is as
far as she could go, but wanting to get as close a possible. She was
glowing and strong, even the day after her chemotherapy. Someday she
will be able to walk freely through the temple with her family and
receive the blessings there.

President Monson has told us to “never postpone a prompting.” I have
been really working on this in my life. And I’m not even going to lie,
I felt like a had been failing. I guess satan got to me a little this
week and made me feel like I was the biggest prompting postponed in
the entire world. On Sunday I was having a really hard day. One of
those days where you question what your doing with your life. I bet
none of yall ever have those days. Anyway, I said a little prayer to
Heavenly Father to help me. When I finished my prayer, I had the
simple thought to ask a new sister in the ward if she was doing all
right. She was sitting in front of me, so I put my arm around her and
said’ “how are you doing?” When she turned around she burst into
tears. I quickly came to sit by her and she opened up to me. She was
completely overwhelmed with her move and the newness of the ward. She
didn’t feel like she was fitting in. She then asked me how I knew
something was wrong. And I told her that I didn’t, that I simply had
the impression to see how she was. And apparently she had been praying
at the exact moment I had been praying. God was aware of both of us in
our time of need and allowed us to be instruments in his hands to lift
us up. This week was just too incredible to portray in an email. But I
know God loves each of his children and his plan is perfect. We just
have to trust in work.

We had dinner with one of our investigators and her family! Her name
is Alli and we have been working with her and her sons, Braydon and
Brennen for a while now. At the end of dinner she sat us down and told
us she was ready to be baptized! Oh my goodness, I cried with joy.
Alli is the definition of strength. She is undergoing chemotherapy
right now during her 3rd reoccurrence of cervical cancer. She is
amazing! We are so excited for her and her family.

Also, Sharonda who we met the other day, finally came to church and
loved it. She kept smiling and talking to everyone and saying “I’ve
been looking for this spirit. I will be back next week and the week
after and forever.” Oh man, it was so amazing! She just took
everything in and knew it was right. Being a missionary is the best!

Okay, yall, when I say it’s hot…I mean it is so flipping hot! Haha!
Last summer was a breeze compared to this year. Haha! Its so hot, we
started listening to Christmas music to try and stay cool. Oh Vegas,
here we go again. Round 2!!

This week was a happy week! We had meetings galore and the opportunity to talk to so many people! Some of my favorite days are the ones where we have no idea what is going to happen that day. We take our plans we made the day before and go to work. Those days are always filled with miracles. For example, there was one day this week, where it seemed like everyone and their dogs were unhappy to see us, we were sweating our lives away and dinner canceled on us. We finally knocked on the door of Sharonda Morris. She opened the door, “Come in, Sisters!” She had moved from California where she had been going to church. She has been looking for a way to get in touch with the missionaries., and then…BAM! Now, tell me that wasn’t the hand of the Lord.

Oh, and did I mention that he weather is back up in the 100s again? My companion and I have PTSD from last Summer. Here we go again. Pray for the elders on bikes!!

Mosiah 2: 41: And moreover, I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.

This week has been crazy! We had so much happen! First of all, we had a mission wide conference where Elder Clark and Bro. Donaldson came and briefed us on the use of I-Pads. It was super intense! They talked less about how to turn on the I-Pads and more about how to better access the Atonement of Jesus Christ!

We also have transfers! SOO…I am staying here in Green Valley and Sister Browning will be my new companion! I am super excited, she has been one of my Sisters for a while, and this will be her first transfer as a STL! I am beyond proud of her! She is such a hard worker! Im ready for some serious miracles!

Tami was baptized this week! I have never seen anyone so excited to be baptized in my life! She was floating through the air! Tami is amazing! She lived in Utah when she was in High School and went through some serious bullying because she was not a member. The other day she told me, “If I would have known the joy the church would bring me, I would have done this ages ago!” She was glowing!

Kim and Christian are getting baptized tomorrow before Sister DeCoster and Elder Hernandez go home! They are so ready! I will send Pics of all the baptisms next week!

I am not going to lie, this has been a super hard transfer! However, I have learned that we are infinitely more than our afflictions and limitations! God always makes up for what we lack!

Just when you think that you get over one hurdle…there is another. This week Sis. DeCoster and I got Bronchitis! Wahoo! So even though we had limited time to work, the Lord pulled through. This is starting to be a huge trend right now. We had new investigators walk into church, and wonderful members who reached out to our investigators.

Y’all…life is good! Even when God gives us trials! When we are in the middle of those trials, we cant always see that! But if we trust in him, all is well! We can be happy everyday, its just up to us!

Man, life on a mission is never what you think it is going to be! Did I mention that I hit my year mark last week? Umm….what? Life never slows down, and you think you know what is going to happen then…BAM, curve ball! That has been the story of my life in this new area! Its been a little discouraging to look at our plans for the week, then see what really happened. HA! The Lord’s plans are not always what we think should happen. There is so much happiness we can find when we learn that life doesnt have to be perfect to be wonderful! Perfection is overrated anyway. (kidding!) However, when we get caught up on the little things that don’t always go according to plan, we can drive ourselves nuts!

This week I found joy in:

Going on a surprise blitz for the zone leaders!

Having God literally place the most elect family into our laps.

Receiving pictures from Tiffany of her baptism! (S. Kraus and I taught her in Anthem)

Being able to fulfill my role as a leader and spend countless numbers with our Sisters.

Making zone T-shirts (pics to come)

Doing a service project with the zone (cleaning books for HOURS)

The list can go on and on! Sometimes when I go to write these E-mails, I have no idea what to write! I wish i could just let yall experience even half of the joy I receive each and ever day here in Sin City! It’s honestly impossible to put into words! The work in our area is booming, the missionaries in our zone are crazy amazing (emphasis on crazy), the church is true, Christ lives, we are infinitely loved by our Heavenly Father! His plan is perfect! What more could we even ask for?

This week was very different! We spent a lot of time in meetings and with Prez so we had very little time to work! HOWEVER with the little time we had, the lord POURED out his blessings. So the few hours we had to work, we got two weeks worth of work done!

I have a huge testimony of God’s timing and hand in our lives! The Lord knows us perfectly! He works wonders in order to bring us true joy and to allow us to be instuments in his hands! He places the right people into our lives at the right moment! Our God is still a God of miracles! I feel like I say that in every email I send but it is so true! Keep your eyes open for those miracles and take notice of what the Lord does for you! The more you watch for them, the more you will notice!